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On Wednesday, the US Navy’s Mideast-based 5^th Fleet said it will launch a new task force that incorporates airborne, sailing, and underwater drones after years of maritime attacks linked to ongoing tensions with Iran. Navy officials declined to identify which systems they would introduce from their headquarters on the island nation of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. However, they promised the coming months would see the drones stretch their capabilities across a region of chokepoints crucial to both global energy supplies and worldwide shipping. Vice Adm. Brad Cooper leads the 5^th Fleet, said, “We want to put more systems out in the maritime domain above, on and below the sea. We want more eyes on what’s happening out there”. The 5th Fleet includes the crucial Strait of Hormuz the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil passes.

It also stretches as far as the Red Sea reaches near the Suez Canal, the waterway in Egypt linking the Mideast to the Mediterranean, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen. The systems being used by the 5^th Fleet’s new Task Force 59 will include some of those involved in an April test led by the Navy’s Pacific Fleet. Drones used in that exercise included ultra-endurance aerial surveillance drones, surface ships, the Sea Hawk, the Sea Hunter, and smaller underwater drones that resemble torpedoes. The 5^th Fleet includes shallow water areas, salty waters, and temperatures in the summertime that can go above 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) with high humidity. Cooper said, “I think that environment really suits us well to experiment and move faster”.

Cooper added, “And our belief is if the new systems can work here, they can probably work anywhere else and can scale them across other fleets”. It also represents a region that has seen a series of at-sea attacks in recent years. Off Yemen, bomb-laden drone boats and mines set adrift by Yemen’s Houthi rebels have damaged vessels amid that country’s years-long war. The oil tankers have been seized by Iranian forces near the United Arab Emirates and the Strait of Hormuz. Suspicious explosions also have struck vessels in the region, ranging from tankers owned by Western firms, ships tied to Israel and Iranian vessels. Iran even shot down an American drone amid the tensions. President Joe Biden has said he’s willing to re-enter the deal, negotiations in Vienna have stalled as Iran now has a new hard-line president.